I haven't photographed roses or any flower as a matter of fact for a while, and i wanted to try something a bit different from the typical flower shot so here is a go at it. I wanted to make a stance on the photograph and i quite like the outcome the rose being the center of the image, and focal point while still having a human touch to it (my hand)

I first create a black background layer (place it below the "image" layer) and then i start to erase parts of the image that i don't want there, then after that i adjust the color and contrast etc, the levels. After that i apply a gradient map (works better imo then just desaturated the image) and then i apply mask to this layer and then i adjust the channel mixer and mask out the flower one more time (i save the mask so it doesn't take for ever to do this) and then i apply some "specific" dark/highlught/midtones contraster to bring out a bit more of detail and your done!

I first create a black background layer (place it below the "image" layer) and then i start to erase parts of the image that i don't want there, then after that i adjust the color and contrast etc, the levels. After that i apply a gradient map (works better imo then just desaturated the image) and then i apply mask to this layer and then i adjust the channel mixer and mask out the flower one more time (i save the mask so it doesn't take for ever to do this) and then i apply some "specific" dark/highlught/midtones contraster to bring out a bit more of detail and your done!

alex, you wicked monkey...always so full of surprises...this work of art, is brilliant..I can see it as a classic and classy Valentine...would like to say how much I enjoy all the hard work..I know it isn't an easy thing, or at least doesn't come easy to me...but you have mastered another technique...

I think what i like so much about digital photography is that i get to apply some of my creative side to the image just not what the sensor is capturing, this shot could have been done in a studio environment (isolating the hand the rose) but i don't have that kind of equipment so i just have to work a round that.

I think it often comes down to being very picky about the post processing, i often find myself working a 1 pixels where i paint in that so it looks perfect, because in August my father is going to the states and i m planning to have a few shots blow up to a pretty big size so i can start hanging my work on the walls and for that you need to be very picky!

Interesting picture i love the concept however im not to sure about the end result. I am been very picky here because it is a great picture. Im just not sure about the contrast between red and white of the hand, the concept is right but the rose looks way too over emphasised and because of this i dont think the rose sits right in the hand. I know it is meant to be emphasised but i think its one notch to far. It also looks like your grasping the rose tightly however the part of a rose you are grabbing is where the rose goes into the stem (more evident on the right hand side of the image) and there for is not that wide.

I would move the hand very slightly further forward on the right handside and then make it a little smaller. You can do this by selecting the hand and then going to Edit/transform/skew and move the points on the right hand side. A nice idea might be to change the hand back to full colour then put it in CMYK mode on photoshop and desaturate, this would give the hand a sublte film red glow. If you then have the full colour image on a different layer below and knock the opacity down slightly on the top desaturated hand layer small hints of colour highlights would pop through. I think it has to be tried to see if it works but ive done this type of thing before with some nice effects produced. It may work better if you just let the hints of colour flow through abit and leave out the CMYK dedsaturation. You will have to play around to get the best effect.

I do not want to take anything away from your image though its wonderful 8/10. I just want it so i can play with it and make it a 10/10 lol. I just think it needs very subtle tweeks. Love it